Bucket coupler

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed a bucket coupler ( 10 ) having tubular main portion ( 11 ) having an annular sidewall ( 12 ) with an interior surface ( 13 ) and an exterior surface ( 14 ). The interior surface has an upper portion ( 17 ) and a lower portion ( 18 ). The interior surface upper portion and lower portion are angled or tapered outwardly as they extends from a central location. The angling of the upper and lower portion&#39;s interior surfaces is intended to match or conform with the angling of the exterior surface of a bucket (B) intended to be co pled to the bucket coupler. The bucket coupler also includes a vent ( 26 ).

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/923,584 filed Jun. 21, 2013 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/667,273 filed Jul. 2, 2012.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to a couplers, and more particularly to a coupler utilized to join buckets.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Buckets have been used for centuries to gather and carry different types of goods. These buckets are typically placed on the ground and the gathered contents are placed into the bucket over time. At a later time, the contents arc taken out of the bucket. Typically, the contents are placed into the bucket or taken out of the bucket one item at a time.

A common problem with the use of buckets is that when placing contents within the bucket or taking contents from a bucket a few items at a time requires one to bend over repeatedly. This repetitive bending can become tedious and tiresome. For example, a baseball pitcher may take many baseballs out to the mound during practice session. The constant motion of bending over to retrieve baseballs from the bucket may cause the pitcher strain or discomfort. This problem is exacerbated the more balls the pitcher retrieves as each successive ball is placed at a lower level within the bucket, thus requiring a deeper bend to reach.

Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for a manner to enable the carrying of multiple e s but which does not require one to deeply bend over to place or to retrieve such items. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bucket coupler embodying principles of the invention in a preferred form, shown mounted to two buckets.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the bucket coupler of FIG. 1, shown mounted to the bottom portions of two buckets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference next to the drawings, there is shown a bucket coupler 10 according to the present invention. The bucket coupler 10 has a ring-like, annular, or tubular main portion 11 having an annular sidewall 12 with an interior surface 13 and an exterior surface 14.

The coupler main portion interior surface 13 has a first or upper portion 17 extending to or from a second or lower portion 18. It should be understood that the bucket coupler 10 is intended to be symmetrical so that it may be utilized and inverted in either vertical orientation, i.e., it may be flipped for use in either direction. As such, the use of the terms upper and low are intended for reference to the drawings.

The interior surface 13 of the upper portion 17 is angled or tapered outwardly as it extends upwardly in a divergent manner from a location approximate the center 20 to a location approximate a top edge 21. Similarly, the interior surface 13 of the lower portion 18 is angled or tapered outwardly as it extends downwardly in a divergent manner from a location approximate the center 20 to a location approximate a bottom edge 22. The angling of the upper and lower portion's interior surfaces is intended to match or conform with the angling of the exterior surface of a bucket B intended to be coupled to the bucket coupler. For example, the angle of the upper and lower portions interior surfaces may correspond to the contour of a conventional 5 gallon bucket. The angling of the interior surfaces is intended to leave a space or gap area 24 between the bottom of the two buckets B inserted into the bucket coupler 10. Each bucket B may include a removable bucket lid BL and at least a bottom portion having an outwardly tapered exterior surface, the term outwardly tapered exterior surfacing is intended to mean that the exterior surface has a circumference that increases along the longitudinal axis of the bucket from a bottom end of the bucket towards a top end of the bucket.

The bucket coupler 10 includes a hole or vent 26 extending through the tubular main portion 11 to the gap area 24 within the confines of the main portion.

In use, the bottom end of a bucket B is positioned within each portion 17 and 18 of the bucket coupler 10. As such, a first or bottom bucket B extends downwardly in an inverted orientation from the bucket coupler 10 while a second or top bucket B, or similar size and shape, extends upwardly in a normal orientation from the bucket coupler 10. Thus, the top bucket B is now elevated above the level of the ground and therefore a person filling or emptying the bucket of contents is not required to bend over to such a great degree in order to achieve this task.

As the buckets are positioned within the collar, and especially the second bucket to be positioned, the air within the collar is allowed to be expelled through the vent 26 so that air pressure within the gap area does not prevent the buckets from seating correctly within the collar. The vent 26 also allows the flow of air into the collar gap area as the buckets are separated from the collar to prevent the creation of a vacuum as the buckets are pulled apart and disengaged from the collar.

It should be understood that preferably the bucket coupler upper and lower portion's interior surfaces extends directly from each other, meaning that they merge with each other while both are at an angle, thereby providing the greatest variance in the acceptance of the bucket's configuration. The merging of the two angled or tapered interior surfaces of the upper and lower portions may be considered to produce a completely or continuously convex surface, as best shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2.

It is important to note that the coupler is designed to receive the bottom of two like buckets, as opposed to the prior art which shows the coupling of the top of a can to the bottom of a second can, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,087. This bottom to bottom coupling enables both buckets to be positioned so that both of their tops are accessible for retrieving items within either bucket. This also allows for the simple inverting of the entire combination, thereby enabling both buckets to be used for storage with ready accessibility, i.e., once one bucket's contents are filled or depleted the combination may be inverted so as to fill or deplete the second bucket without having to uncouple the buckets from the coupler. Of course, the bucket lid BL would be utilized if the bottom bucket includes the contained items.

It thus is seen that a bucket coupler is now provided which overcomes problems associated with buckets of the prior art. While this invention has been described in detail with particular references to the preferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood that many modifications, additions and deletions, in addition to those expressly recited, may be made thereto without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. 

1. A combination bucket and bucket coupler comprising, a first bucket having a bottom portion with an outwardly tapered exterior surface as said bottom portion extends from a bottom of said first bucket towards a top of said first bucket; a second bucket having a bottom portion with an outwardly tapered exterior surface as said bottom portion extends from a bottom of said second bucket towards a top of said second bucket; a bucket coupler having an annular sidewall having an upper portion with a tapered interior surface corresponding to and receiving said first bucket outwardly tapered exterior surface and a lower portion with a tapered interior surface corresponding to and receiving said second bucket outwardly tapered exterior surface.
 2. The combination bucket and bucket coupler of claim 1 wherein said bucket coupler includes a vent extending through said annular side wall.
 3. The combination bucket and bucket coupler of claim 1 wherein said bucket coupler includes a storage compartment coupled to said annular side wall positioned within an interior space of said bucket coupler.
 4. The combination bucket and bucket coupler of claim 1 wherein said bucket coupler upper portion tapered interior surface extends directly from said bucket coupler lower portion tapered interior surface.
 5. A bucket coupler comprising an annular main portion having a top edge, a bottom edge, an interior surface extending between said top edge and said bottom edge, and an exterior surface extending between said top edge and said bottom edge, said interior surface being convex from said top edge to said bottom edge.
 6. The bucket coupler of claim 5 further comprising a vent extending through said annular main portion.
 7. The bucket coupler of claim 5 further comprising a storage compartment coupled to said annular main portion positioned within an interior space defined by said annular main portion.
 8. A bucket coupler comprising a cylindrical sidewall having an first portion joined to a second portion at a generally central location, said first portion having an interior surface which diverges as it extends in an upward direction from said central location, said second portion having an interior surface which diverges as it extends in a downward direction from said central location.
 9. The bucket coupler of claim 8 further comprising a vent extending through said cylindrical side.
 10. The bucket coupler of claim 8 further comprising a storage compartment coupled to said cylindrical sidewall and positioned within an interior space defined by said cylindrical sidewall. 